Typically, the very best homeschooling supply companies are those that are owned and operated by homeschoolers themselves. We understand subtle nuances that are significant to homeschooling families, but that other companies might not even notice. Sing ‘n Learn is such a company. It was founded by a homeschooling couple, Fred and Sarah Cooper, who were on the cutting edge of the modern homeschooling world, beginning to teach their oldest son in the mid 1980s and their second son shortly thereafter. Both boys never attended school until college.

The Coopers quickly learned the value of coupling music with pieces of information to be learned and they created their company to supply such products. They now offer over 900 products from over 100 publishers. They produce some of their products themselves and others they obtain from outside. But in all, they maintain their mission of using music, as well as auditory products such as stories, as the means of making learning fun.

The underlying premise of Sing ‘n Learn is amply demonstrated in T.V. and radio commercials, where a jingle heard a few times may stick in one’s head for years – even decades. Imagine the power of music coupled with lyrics that carry information of value instead of inane advertising copy! The power of music is not harnessed for education in public schools, but homeschoolers can take advantage of this great tool, through Sing ‘n Learn’s large catalog! They include songs for every subject you would teach in a usual school curriculum. For example, they include math with classical music, U.S. Presidents and First Ladies, Scripture memory, and many other products in over 90 categories such as history, grammar, geography, phonics, science, etc. Their products can be used to teach the basics -- reading, math, history, grammar, etc. for Pre/K-8 and then at the high school level, they offer Chemistry, Physics, Life Science, History, Earth Science, Biology and much more. Sing ‘n Learn also offers a lot of other products besides music such as Spelling Power, Easy Grammar, and Winston Grammar. But no software – they are all recordings, mostly CDs and a few videos and DVDs.

Everyone learns well with music, but those who are auditory learners truly benefit from Sing ‘n Learn products and their overall approach. Traditional schools are geared for visual learners who learn from books. If your child is an auditory learner, s/he will fall through the cracks or be labeled a slow learner (or worse). One of the Coopers’ sons would listen to the audiobook version of a book, while reading the book at the same time. This greatly improved his reading ability, and since he was primarily an auditory learner, he learned Shakespeare and other “heavy” literature quite successfully this way. He also enjoyed his learning experience!

Younger children who are learning to read can only take in so much information through books, but they are already geared to take in more information through their ears. Sing ‘n Learn also carries programs that teach reading with music.

You can obtain much more detail and hear samples of the Sing ‘n Learn products by going to their website, http://www.singnlearn.com/ and spending enjoyable hours going through their large inventory of interesting and exciting audio adventures. M.L. ■